Concern has been expressed that warming of the atmosphere,
resulting from industrial pollution, could cause the polar ice caps
to melt. If the polar ice caps of the earth were to melt and the
water returned to the oceans, the oceans would be made deeper by
about 44.7 m. This will effect the earth's rotation. Make an
estimate of the resulting change in the length of the day, assuming
that all of the earth's surface is covered with oceans. Assume that
the earth (excluding the polar ice caps) is a uniform sphere with a
mass of 5.98 x 1024 kg and a radius of 6.37 x 106 m.
In addition, assume that the polar ice caps do not contribute to
the rotational inertia of the earth since they are located very
close to the rotation axis. <<< this is what I don't
understand, if length of day changes isn't this cause by change in
angular speed / angular momentum / inertia?
I = (2/5)M(R)^2 - solid sphere
I = (2/3)(M)(R)^2 - hollow sphere
2*pi/ w(angular speed) = 24 hours
It changes because of inertia as radius r reduced inertia also reduced but w will increased.
Concern has been expressed that warming of the atmosphere, resulting from industrial pollution, could cause the...
Suppose that Earth's polar ice caps melted and the water returned to the oceans, so that the oceans were deeper by about 11.4 m. What effect would this have on Earth's rotation? Make an estimate of the resulting change in the length of the day. (Concern has been expressed that warming of the atmosphere resulting from industrial pollution could cause the ice caps to melt.)